Fifteen Things to Do in Sonoma County This Summer

Yes, there are lots of things to do besides go wine tasting!

If you should fly into Sonoma County you'll be greeted by
outdoor dining and Russian River beer on tap at the airport

1. It's beer country, too. Yes, there's the famous Russian River Brewery and Lagunitas, but there's two dozen others. There's also a growing hard cider business.
2. Visit the rugged Sonoma coast. See the beauty, have some fresh seafood. There's fishing (of course), whale watching, surfing, or hanging out at the beach.
3. Walk among the giants in the Armstrong Grove redwoods park near Guerneville.
4. Eat because, oh boy, is there a lot of good food from the Schellville Diner to the Farmhouse Inn with dozens and dozen more. The food alone is enough of an excuse to make the trip to Sonoma County.
5. Hike in one of the dozens of state, county, and region parks. Several offer camping. Many have great views. You might see mountains, towns, the Pacific or the Golden Gate Bridge.
6. The Russian River offers canoeing and kayaking or you can just hang out at a beach. There are various swimming holes and real beaches all along the river.
7. Visit an artisan cheese company to tour and taste. There is a Sonoma-Marin Cheese Trail.
8. Safari West is a wildlife preserve specializing to animals native to Africa.
9. The Charles Schulz Museum is home to Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the Red Baron.
10. Sonoma Raceway has professional and amateur events plus race schools.
11. Green Music Center, Weil Hall, and Luther Burbank Center (Wells Fargo Center) all offer first-rate performing arts. Transcendence Theatre performs outdoors at Jack London State Park.
12. There is free music at various locations in Santa Rosa (Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun), Healdsburg (Tue), Windsor (Thu), and Cloverdale (Fri).
13. There are farmers markets somewhere just about every weekday evening and several during the day, too. The bigger ones in Sonoma (Tue), Santa Rosa (Wed), and Windsor (Thu) have turned into mini-festivals with live music and food vendors.
14. Check out the shops in Healdsburg, Sonoma, and at the Barlow in Sebastopol.
15. Outdoor dining in Healdsburg is plentiful and there's one to fit your budget. Some of the choices are Barndiva, Bear Republic, Bravas, Campo Fina, Chalkboard, Healdsburg Bar & Grill, Mateo's, Willi's Seafood, and the Wurst.

Free live music!